Typical, friendship bracelets, necklaces, rings, or the like intertwine multiple different colored pieces of string, floss, yarn, cord, or some other flexible colored material. This may be accomplished without the use of any device; however, devices may be employed to keep the strings separated. These devices may also allow a user to employ more strands by organizing the strands for the user. These devices slightly simplify the process but are still time consuming, confusing to the user, and frustrating to younger children. Examples of such devices are disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0212770 and Alex Toys Friendship Wheel. Available at www.alextoys.com/product/137W, last accessed Jan. 17, 2011; Mary Maxim, My Friendship Bracelet Maker. Available at www.marymaxim.com, last accessed Jan. 17, 2011; and Alex, Friend 2 Friend Friend Bracelet Kit. Available at www.amazon.com/Alex-Friend-Friendship-Bracelet-Kit/dp/B0009S5U08, last accessed Jan. 17, 2011 all of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
Some disadvantages faced by known devices are that these devices minimally assist in: the creation of the accessory; reducing the complexity; improving the organization of threads for the various weaving patterns, or a combination thereof. They further suffer a disadvantage in that they don't dramatically increase the simplicity or significantly reduce time required to create the jewelry. These guides and/or aids do not significantly reduce the time to create an accessory by mechanically assisting in the creation of an accessory. It would be attractive to have a device/tool that could assist in the creation of these or similar jewelry by reducing the complexity and time required to make the jewelry.
Other known devices may employ a rod so that a rigid metallic medium may be wrapped around the rod in order to create jewelry. These devices suffer from the disadvantage that it is difficult to use multiple mediums simultaneously and the combination of color, material, size, or a combination thereof may not vary along the length of the jewelry. Furthermore, the diameter of the fashion accessory may not be easily varied from piece to piece without modifications to the device. These devices use a rigid medium which may be difficult for young children to manipulate, cut, handle, sculpt, or a combination thereof and may not be safe for very young children to use and/or wear. Additionally, such devices may employ drive chains. The drive chains may be subject to disengagement due to a lateral force such as force on the crank during normal operation, dropping, bumping, or a combination thereof. The disengaged drive chains may be difficult to re-engage especially for a younger user. Further, the drive chains may stretch over time and cause slippage, disengagement, or both. Examples of such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,927,059 and 6,321,519 both of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. Thus, there is a need for a device that simplifies creation of fashion accessories so that young children may quickly and easily make fashion accessory. There is also a need for a simple device that increases the user's sense of input and creative direction, while optimizing the flexibility for generating different types of jewelry, fashion accessories, designs, configurations, color combinations, or a combination thereof. There is a need for a durable device that has a high level of lateral stability so that the device can withstand dropping, bumping, and continual use without moving parts becoming disengaged and requiring repair and/or realignment.
One possible embodiment of the present teachings is a device comprising: a body portion including: a first end and a second end; a holder at the first end; a holder at the second end; a rotation device at the first end in communication with the holder at the first end; and wherein the holder is fixedly attached to a split gear having a channel therethrough so that one or more flexible mediums may be placed through the channel and removed from a work area located between the holder at the first end and the holder at the second end.
One possible embodiment of the present teachings is a device includes a device comprising: a device comprising: a body portion including: a first end region and a second end region spaced apart from the first end region, each end region includes an outwardly projecting support; a holder carried on each of the supports defining a spacing therebetween; a plurality of inter-meshing gears on at least one side; at least one structure for preventing lateral translation; and a rotation device in rotatable driving relation with at least one of the holders and the plurality of inter-meshing gears, wherein the spacing of the holders is sufficient so that when an elongated strand of a flexible filament is removably attached to each of the holders; a core with a longitudinal axis is defined, the core being in a state of tension, and the rotation device is such that at least one holder is rotated generally about the longitudinal axis of the core while a predetermined length of a filament that is either completely unattached to a holder a core, or both is fed generally tangentially to the core thereby forming a series of consecutive adjoining loops around the core.
One unique aspect of the present teachings envisions: a method comprising: (a) obtaining the device of the teachings herein; (b) attaching one or more flexible mediums to the holder at the first end; (c) attaching at least one flexible medium to the holder at the second end so that a core is formed between the first end and the second end; (d) continuing to perform steps (b) and (c) until a core of the desired size is achieved; (e) turning either the rotation knob at the first end or the rotation knob at the second end; (f) wrapping at least one flexible medium around the core; and (g) repeating steps (e) and (f) until a desired length of a fashion accessory is created.
Another unique aspect of the present teachings envisions a kit including the device described herein, flexible mediums, secondary mediums, or a combination thereof, which may be use the method described herein to create an article and/or fashion accessory.
One unique aspect of the present teachings is a device that assists in holding multiple strands of different flexible mediums so that the flexible mediums can be quickly and efficiently arranged to create an article and/or fashion accessories. The device includes numerous different configurations so that the complexity of the process is simplified so that fashion accessories may be created by the user without minimizing user input creativity, originality, or a combination thereof.
Another unique aspect of the present teachings is a process of using the device described herein to create unique and original articles and/or fashion accessories. The method of creating unique and original articles and/or fashion accessories may change from user to user so that each user may create their own unique and original designs. The method for creating articles and/or fashion accessories described herein provides a simple and elegant solution so that users of all ages may use the device described herein to create their own unique and original articles and/or fashion accessories.